Treat Your Shelf: Words to Warm You This Winter

Arts & Culture Treat Your Shelf: Words to Warm You This Winter Winter is slowly creeping upon us, which means that (along with eating entire cheeseboards whilst spluttering “Whatever! It’s Christmas!”) the season for dark nights with fluffy socks, a brew, a good book, and a festive Yankee candle is almost here. As a bookseller, and a certified bookworm, I feel fully qualified to share what I think are the best reads to have on your shelves this year, ready for those long evenings. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis Although this is ‘technically’ a children’s book, The Chronicles of Narnia have been drawing readers of all ages into its magical, snowy landscapes for over sixty years! I think, for an adult, the festivity of this book relies on nostalgia; I read this, and I am immediately transformed into a giddy nine-year-old, with all of my siblings around me, eating Heroes on Christmas day. If an eternal winter, Turkish delight and the White Witch can’t get you ready for Christmas, I’m not too sure what will. In the Time We Lost - Carrie Hope Fletcher Hot off the printing press, in this novel Fletcher follows her protagonist, Luna Lark, on a journey of self-discovery and love. The warm joy of Fletcher’s writing derives from the positivity, magic and romance that she so carefully weaves into her narratives, and she has also set her story in the midst of a surprise snow storm, making it even more perfect for this time of year. In The Time We Lost is waiting patiently on my book case, and I cannot wait to give it a read after the success of her previous work.

The Wych Elm - Tana French Following Toby’s descent from his easy, middle-class lifestyle to paranoia and injury, I think that limiting The Wych Elm to the crime and thriller genres is not doing French’s writing the justice that it so deserves. With themes ranging from family dynamics and personal identity to the concepts of luck and nostalgia, I can promise that this book will have you gripped until the very last page. I always find these kinds of books a pleasure during this time of year; I suppose that it replaces my craving for a horror film during this season‘s long, cold nights!

Frostheart - Jamie Littler This is genuinely one of the sweetest and most heart-warming books that I have read this year. Following Ash, who is aboard a sleigh called the Frostheart, Littler beautifully writes about family and friendship whilst making readers chuckle at his various comical explorer characters, who are travelling with Ash. Again, this title is a children’s book, and would be a perfect gift for any little ones in your life!

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Morgan Hartley

TheBookSeller.com

David Copperfield: Reimagined Classic Looks Promising

Olivia Plumtree gives a first look at the trailer for Armando Ianucci‘s adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ novel David Copperfield, which is set to be released next year.

The trailer for Armando Ianucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, an adaptation of Dickens’ most personal novel, has been released following the film’s opening at the London BFI Film Festival earlier this month. Ianucci, renowned for his use of satire and dark wit (his previous work including The Death of Stalin and political farce series The Thick of It), may not seem the conventional choice for a Dickens adaptation. However, the trailer makes clear that his comedic talents have been put to good use.

The trailer takes us on a frantic journey through Copperfield’s life, his quirky companions, and evolving taste in suits. Made up of snapshots of increasingly absurd situations (picture the chaos of a Victorian factory, Hugh Laurie wielding a giant paper kite, and Tilda Swinton kicking a donkey) it is hard to imagine how these fragments will come together coherently in a single film; yet I have no doubt that they will do so with great effect. The use of colour-blind casting is striking, with the integration of diversity into a Victorian narrative being particularly refreshing. Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel stars as the eponymous lead, and there is an easy equilibrium between his ever earnest, intense likeability and the eccentric characters he finds himself surrounded by, the most notable of which being Tilda Swinton’s outlandishly comical Aunt Betsey.

The Personal History of David Copperfield promises to be an invigorating contrast to the often dreary literary adaptations that are regularly churned out. It smartly combines crowd-pleasing slapstick with a more highbrow humour, without needing to digress from Dickens’ original narrative. In a BBC interview back in 2012, Ianucci spoke of how he wanted “to show that the work of Charles Dickens isn’t just quality entertainment for a long-dead audience”, and if the full length film lives up to the expectations set by its raucous trailer then he will have certainly achieved this. Unfortunately, we will just have to wait in anticipation until the release date in 2020.

Olivia Plumtree